Aussie-bodied '34-35 H or Terraplane open cars

[Deleted User]

Does anyone in the southern hemisphere own, or know of, any open-bodied '34-35 Terraplane or Hudson? If so, please post a picture and state the body builder and owner if known. Or if you are a northerner and correspond with someone down under, please mention that also.

There are two open Aussie '34-35s known in the N. hemisphere: the tan '34 Terraplane tourer owned by Glen Reeves with body by Ruskin /Melbourne and the white '34 Terraplane roadster owned by V. Parziale with unknown body builder, this car originated in Perth.

The purpose of this post is to figure out the builder of the Parziale roadster through comparison.

Thanks,
Will

bob ward

There is a locally bodied 34? tourer in Lismore, Northern NSW, if you trawl through the NSW Hudson site http://www.hudson-amc.org.au/ you may get a lead on the owner.

Saw it maybe 4 years ago, its a good solid car in dry storage, and is offered for sale now and then. There was discussion that it is one of a batch of 6 cars turned out by I think Ruskin. The tourer that was/is owned by Graeffin (spelling?) in the US is one of the batch.

I saw the Lismore car in company with other Hudson owners who know more about the early cars than I do, hopefully one of them will be along soon and can add some details.

Used to have photos but my computer ate them.

EDIT 6th April. The body maker was Olding not Ruskin

StillOutThere

The Reeves '34 tourer in the initial post is the car Wayne Graefen brought to the US in the 1980s. It was restored for next owner Jim Fritts and is now owned by Reeves. It is a Ruskin.

Went to the AU web pages and found the red '35 H8 roadster and the green '34 T tourer. I would like to know who built either of those bodies. The '34 tourer is not Ruskin because it has a foldable windscreen on chrome stanchions.

Could not find anything on the Linsmore car.

[Deleted User]

Here are a couple more pics for everybody to think about...Mortlock Bros. Ltd.

A good friend of mine and myself have found some info on Mortlock...but it is very, very, limited. Anybody???

Also, a body tag we found in the other pic.

Will

Huddy42

G'Day,
I would imagine that Mortlock was only a selling agent, I have been around H/T's for over 50 years and have never heard of them before. Dalgety was also a selling agent here in Sydney New South Wales.
I have emailed Wayne Graefen a few photos of 1934 Terraplane tourers, the green tourer was built with the scuttle from a 1930 Essex as it has two opening vents on top of the cowl.

Huddy42

Hope this one comes out OK.

Huddy42

I believe this is the same car as shown in the hot rod magazine from 1969, as stated before only 6 were ever produced by Ruskin.

Huddy42

Here is another survivor.

Huddy42

Here is another survivor.

Unknown

I have seen a 34H8 two door tourer,body by REAL england(maybe)will try and get a photo

Spencer Yarrow

The Lismore car has a complete 30 Essex body from the firewall back although the rear guards are Terra. The bead along the bottom of the doors and over the top of the rear guard are still there but it disappears under the Terra guard and reappears further back,strange looking body. The bonnet[hood for the uneducated] is Terra but is cut off square to match the Essex scuttle.I believe the car was sold recently and now resides in Brisbane but can't confirm this, it also has a folding windscreen but I can't remember what dash it has.Just made a couple of phone calls and the info I got was the body was done by a firm called Oldings in Sydney,Les you may know of this firm.

Spencer.

Huddy42

Spencer-I'm sure Oldings built the Kleinig special.(Red 1935 Hudson racer)

Bit of history for the Hudson buffs.

Mount Panorama is a famous race track here in Bathurst New South Wales Australia.where they race the V8 Super cars on occasions.

Ever wondered how Con-Rod Straight got its name? Read on . . .

"The TV commentators mention Con-Rod Straight maybe 200 times during the day and I bet that none of them knows how it got its name."
Clive Gibson is probably right. He also knows how Con-Rod straight got its name. Gibson was there when the first race meeting was held on Mount Panorama in 1938, as a teenager, and after World war 2 he worked on Frank Kleinigs race cars in the 1940s and 1950s.
According to clive, the straight had initially been referred to as 'Main Straight'. But at the second race meeting, Easter weekend 1939, Frank Kleinig in his Kleinig Hudson started near the rear of the field and about three quarters of the way through the 150 mile (241.4 km) race had passed all but one car, which he was catching fast, when a piston collapsed. The connecting rod then punched a big hole in the side of the block.
Thereafter, the straight was known as Con-Rod Straight. The printed race programs of the time confirm it: by the easter 1940 meeting (but not before) it bore that title, spelt with a hyphen, not 'Con-rod' as it has come to be used over the years.
Gibson says the con rod was 'bent like an eight' and it was chrome-plated to keep as a souvineer. He also said that in the early 70's, when the Bathurst Touring Car race had become known to any and every Australian, Kleinig (who died in 1976) brought the rod along to the pub they drank at every week to show it to Clive.
"A couple of drunks nearby started talking about Bathurst," says Clive. So Frank Produced the rod and Clive told them this was the rod after which the straight had been named, adding ". . . and this man here," pointing to Frank, "is the man who was driving the car."
"But," Clive told me, "they didn't believe us."
Some people wouldn't recognise a piece of history even if it jumped up and bit them on the nose.

Unknown

stay tuned the thruth about these Terraplane open cars is about to be revieled the block in the background in the burgandy photo which was taken in the past month is me back to the workshop for now Stay Tuned Reidy 377

Huddy42

Thought you would turn up some time Reidy377, if on line.
Les.P.

[Deleted User]

Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread....keep it coming!!

I have a photo copy of a vehicle examination report for the car....looks to be from Veteran car club. Anyway, the name on the report has the owners name as Martin Dawson. And the section or branch says Perth.

Anybody know a Mr. Martin Dawson?

Unknown

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night Les. Been a bit busy in the shed.
I have a lot of reliable information from Jim Fritz on the Terraplane Phaeton, and just waiting for one of the family to help scan it so I can post it for all to see.
Stay tuned
Rob

hudsontech

reidy377 wrote:

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night Les. Been a bit busy in the shed.
I have a lot of reliable information from Jim Fritz on the Terraplane Phaeton, and just waiting for one of the family to help scan it so I can post it for all to see.
Stay tuned
Rob

The Hudson world awaits with bated breath for your post, Rob. :woohoo:

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Huddy42

Looking forward to it Rob, you say you were busy in the shed, working on the Terraplane no doubt.?? Your car still looks great as always.

Unknown

No Les im not working on my car im doing hubs wheels for Dave Petersons 1919 Hudson ,machining bearings for 34 Terraplane gearbox ,decking pistons for a race car .still waiting for help to scan information relating to Terraplane phaetons
Reguards Rob

Huddy42

Busy-busy boy then eh.?

SamJ

I thought some of you might be interested in Mary Ann's photos of Glenn Reeves'Car...:P

Spencer Yarrow

In case anyone missed it or forgot there is another at post #98222 on 17th march 2009.

Spencer.

StillOutThere

Waiting for that post that is going to document the number of Aussie '34 T tourers built as "six" and that Olding built them. I'm the guy who brought the '34 tourer up from Melbourne where I had been told it was a Ruskin body. Car now owned by Glen Reeves.

Also, are there any other production number records for '34-35 Terraplane and or Hudson bodies by any of the Aussie body builders?

How many DIFFERENT body builders created bodies for '34-35 in Australia?

Unknown

Hi there,

Well I have finally put a few details together, as accurate as I can find, the number 6 keeps coming up, whether that means 6 built by Ruskin and 6 built by Olding - details still need to be found on this, but I was unable to find any records by either of these companies on the web. I have attached a PDF if anyone is interested in reading about my knowledge on the topic, very happy for anyone to clarify any details within, always willing to learn more about this fabulous rare car!

Rob

1934 Terraplane Phaeton / Model K Tourer (with body made by Ruskin for Hudson)

The Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1932 and 1938. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex-Terraplane; in 1934 the car became simply the Terraplane, the name then returned to Hudson-Terraplane and then was phased out in 1938 with the Hudson 112. Hudson Motor Car Company products were assembled in England and Australia in low volume under license. Australian law however made it impractical to import a fully assembled car as import duties were quite high at the time. In an effort to avoid the duty which applied just to the vehicle bodies, the Aussies found a loophole, by having the chassis, grille, bonnet, cowl, fenders, running boards and all mechanical components shipped by Hudson Motor Car Company to Ruskin Motor Bodies, Ltd. Of Melbourne, who were exclusive body builders for Hudson Motors in 1934 – 1936. They assembled the right hand drive model with Hudson components and an Aussie body (or tub as it’s known) of steel and wood construction, upon arrival. Apparently this was also done with the 1935 Studebaker phaeton and possibly other models. Other bodies were built for Hudson by local craftsman at the General Motors-Holden’s Ltd firm, also of Melbourne but I am unsure during which period this occurred. In a few cases these bodies included styles not available in the US market, including the open cars which were more suitable to warmer climates. Those listed in Don Butler’s book “The History of Hudson” - the Phaeton 5-passenger Series K model and the Terraplane Standard Six Roadster were never built or marketed in America (hence the artists impression only on p172), both of which I own, nor were coupe utilities. In 1934 production was limited to six phaetons and perhaps a dozen roadsters . In the same year use of essex 30-33 model components left over from previous builds, including use of windscreens and firewalls, were used to create other “terraplanes” and this is where variation came about in the number of bonnet flutes and direction of door opening of some models seen. Whether Ruskin also assembled the motors or just made the bodies I cannot clarify, and will keep investigating, but many other models of the day were assembled by the Pressed Metal Corporation plant in Sydney.

Ruskin body works display of Hudson Terraplane

In 1918 there were only 4 distributors of Hudson motor cars in Australia, these were W. Johnson & Co, Ltd., at Perth; Motors, Ltd., at Adelaide; Kellow-Falkiner Motor Company, at Melbourne; Dalgety & Co., Ltd, at Sydney and Brisbane. Neal’s Motors of Melbourne were also listed as distributors between the years of 1934-1938, and McIntosh Motors, Pty., Ltd., Adelaide St. Brisbane, were also distributors Circa 1929-1938. Below is an article from the Courier Mail, July 31, 1934. Mortlock Bros. Perth, were mentioned in The West Australian on page 6 of Thursday May 28, 1936 as "the local agents for Hudson Terraplane cars."

Advertising slogan 1932-1938 Terraplane: Hudson’s Low-Priced Land-Flyer!
“In the air, it’s aeroplaning; on the sea, it’s aquaplaning; but on land, in the traffic, on the hills, out on the open highway, hot diggity dog, that’s TERRAPLANING!”. Amelia Earhart was one of the celebrities of the day endorsing the vehicle.

The Courier Mail, July 31, 1934

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yX83mJ-Wmk[/video]

Article McIntosh Motors at motor show, The Courier Mail, July 31, 1934



1929 Advertisement for McIntosh Motors, Brisbane

In 1989, Special Interest Autos comments, that three of the six 1934Terraplane phaetons remain. They list two in the article, that owned by Lt. Col. Trevor Watts of Camberwell in Melbourne – a black Terraplane special KS tourer condition 4 per the “2005-2007 Hudson Essex Terraplane Club Roster”, and that featured in the article, then owned by Wayne Graefen. There was no comment on the location or owner of the third which may or may not be mine, which has also been listed in the “Roster”. I have tried to contact Trevor Watts to confirm the existence and condition of his Phaeton to no avail, whether it is that shown in the 1969 article already commented on below, I do not know, but this is possible.

1934 Terraplane Phaeton in state of disrepair, Custom Rodder, 1969.

The one purchased in Australia and exported to America by Wayne Graefen in 1985, is a vehicle the same as mine, with serial number 413274. It was found by Trevor Watts for Wayne in Melbourne, and was sent in a shipping container to the Port of Long Beach, USA. It was purchased in 1989 by James E. Fritts and his wife Betty, of Bonita Springs, Florida and restoration was completed in 1996. It was used for weddings along with 7 other cars they owned until they retired to Florida. It was again sold to Glen Reeves who lives in Richmond, Indiana. 'Glenreeves@aol.com' remains the current owner and I found these pics of him showing the vehicle at the Orphan Car show at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti, Michigan, September 26, 2010.

1934 Terraplane Phaeton, right hand drive, built by Ruskin, now residing in America

1934 Terraplane Model-K-Tourer owned by Glen Reeves, pictured prior to sale in 2005.

My 1934 Phaeton serial number 416202 was originally owned by Douglas Robinson Hunter who was the forestry manager at Imbill, Queensland. He sold it to Roy Otto in Gympie in the mid-50’s. I purchased it in November 1972 from under a house about to be demolished in Maryborough for $400 from Hose House Removalists. I put a battery in it, started it up and drove it home! My wife followed me and while going up Caliope Range it stopped because it had been fitted with an electric fuel pump. We pulled over and decided to tow it behind our 1961 3.8 Mark II Jaguar, my wife who was 38 weeks pregnant at the time took off, leaving the Jaguar bumper behind on the road in front of the Terraplane. I then hooked up the original fuel pump which was still present and it got me home. The photos below are on the day of purchase.

Photos of my car in 1972, showing me with the car on day of purchase (top left)

When my daughter was 3 weeks old in 1972 we got a permit to bring the car from Banana to Brisbane for the Christmas holidays. On return to Banana I began the disassembly process while living in a caravan, in the caravan park owners borrowed shed. There was an incident where I accidently shot the windscreen which was on the floor behind a king brown snake with a 410 shot gun, luckily as the glass is not curved I got another one made to measure. I took the motor down in the caravan annexe otherwise known as the workshop (much to my wife’s pleasure), put new rings in, and had the springs retempered. I painted the chassis and reassembled it.

Perfectly reasonable use of a caravan annexe, not so child friendly however, 1973
Reassembling the chassis, motor and body, 1973

Only a little bit of smoke with ignition after rebuild in 1973
We transferred the Phaeton on a trailer to Brisbane 4 years later and it was stored in Wamuran at a relatives for some time, then relocated it to Redcliffe where it was stored in the garage attached to our house for many more years. Nothing much was done to it until my daughter had marriage plans and the restoration process began in late 1995. Our family home by that time was already a wedding venue, and I was forever getting started on something only to have to pack it all up and put it back in the shed. I subsequently built a bigger shed! Restoration was completed 1998 and it is now used along with a 1927 Dodge Tourer for our wedding business www.reidsplace.com.au.
If anyone is interested in photos of the restoration process 1995 – 1998, I will have to get down an old suitcase from storage.

2010, I make a pretty cool gangster, only the mobile phone is out of era



At the beach for another wedding - It’s great knowing professional photographers

My 1934 Roadster is a category 4 and remains a deferred project , it is only missing mudflap brackets and hood clips.

1934 Terraplane Roadster purchased in approximately 2001, a long overdue project

 
Other terraplanes in existence

In 2008 a 1934 Terraplane Tourer, painted red oxide, went up for sale near Lismore (posted by huddy55) it was built by Olding Body Works of Sydney for Delgedy’s and is made up of 33 Essex rear parts, the doors on it are not suicide and have only 2 inch hinges. There were reports that this is one of only six built for Dalgety Company (Hudson Dealer). Whether it is one of the same reported six only built 1934Terraplane Model K phaetons or another six is very hard to determine, however there were notable differences with these Olding body versions which had other Essex componentry. It is reported to be 100% complete, semi restored, and had been owned for many years.

This green 1935 Tourer is believed to be in Griffith, Australia. It again has notable differences -it has a higher windscreen, 5 flutes in the bonnet instead of 7, 2 inch door hinges instead of 3 inch and the doors aren’t suicide. I believe this is identical to the model mentioned above near Lismore.

1935 Terraplane Tourer, Olding body

bob ward

StillOutThere wrote:

Also, are there any other production number records for '34-35 Terraplane and or Hudson bodies by any of the Aussie body builders?

How many DIFFERENT body builders created bodies for '34-35 in Australia?

I expect its possible to trawl through old vehicle registration records to establish the numbers of different makes and models that were put on the road each year, but that is probably the extent of the information that is available.

There are a few items to be found in a google search on the company Ruskin Motor Bodies, but very little on the GH Olding company. There was a quite extensive article on Ruskin in Restored Cars magazine a few years ago.

Most Terraplanes were imported to Australia in kit form, the only body components were radiator shell, mudguards (fenders) and bonnet (hood), and everything from the firewall back was made by local industry. This was a government policy at the time to encourage Australian industry, fully built up cars attracted a higher rate of duty.

There was nothing to stop you from buying a chassis from the importers and having your local body builder make a body for it. Ruskin is reputed to have bodied most of the Terraplanes, but there were many car body builders here in the 30's, and any of them would have been capable of doing a one off or several off on a Terraplane chassis or indeed any chassis. Some of the body builder's names that come to mind are Waddington & Smith, King, Hope, Richards, Holden and of course Ruskin and Olding.

StillOutThere

Two GREAT answers from Reidy377 and Bob Ward. THANK YOU BOTH. Would love to see the photos referenced in the Reidy post.

Reidy, does your 34 T tourer have a body number? The Graefen/Fritts/Reeves tourer has tag 4948. The Parziale white '34 roadster has two ( !!! ) body number tags. Showing 3535 and 3492. These are located on the sill of the left front passenger floor. Both cars believed to be Ruskin bodied. It would also be noteworthy for future comparisons if the green tourer body tag can be noted.

Les Pendlebury tells me Trevor Watts is still well and I would expect still has the black '34 T Ruskins tourer. That would make 4 of the 6 accounted - an amazing survival if all 4 are Ruskin. Then if Olden made an additional six and none survive, that would speak volumes.

bob ward

Thanks for a brilliant post reidy377. I've heard bits and pieces of the Oz bodied 34T tourer story over the years, and its great to see it all pulled together in one place.

I've sent you a PM.

bob ward

Here's another Australian bodied car to add to the menagerie. Its a 6 wheel 35 H8 roadster, with bolt on windscreen posts and a fold out windscreen, and it has side curtains rather than wind up windows. The body maker is unknown at the moment.

StillOutThere

Looks like an outstanding candidate for a master rebuild. Keep us posted on progress. Thanks

bob ward

I've learned this evening that another of the Australian bodied 34 tourers is alive and well in Tasmania, its a Hudson version rather than a Terraplane.

There is a theory that when car sales took off again in 1934 after being in the doldrums since 1930, these tourers were put together to use up old components that had been gathering dust for a few years.

StillOutThere

Bob,

Are you talking about this car?